Seven

Uncle

The rest of the class was awful. Natalie did all she could to keep from just staring blankly at Nathaniel the entire time. The Seven had faded away and the teacher was still sending occasional glares her way, which meant no answers for a solid 40 minutes. It wasn't that long in the scheme of things, it was simply pure torture.

When the bell finally rang Nathaniel sprinted out of the classroom door like the devil was on his heels and Natalie ran after him.

He stopped half way down the hallway and appeared to be waiting for her.

She caught up with him quickly and just stared at him for a few moments at a loss for words.

He glared at her. "Stop gaping, you'll attract attention."

"Sorry," she said quickly. "You can see them?" She asked, just to confirm.

"Yeah," he replied. "I thought we already established that."

"Right, sorry. It's just..." She trailed off.

"I thought I was crazy." They said at the same time.

"At least I did when I was little." Nathaniel said. "My mo- uh, it was explained to me a few years ago."

"What's the reason?" She asked. "Please I've got to know."

He shook his head. "That's the thing. From what I was told, no one but me should be able to see them."

Natalie was about to say something when a solid mass bumped into her.

"Would you look at that." The girl hit her said. "Queer ducks flock together."

Nathaniel rolled his eyes and leaned into the wall, waiting for the girl to go away.

Natalie shook her head. "At least ugly ducklings grow to be swans." She said, grabbing Nathaniel's hand and dragging him down the hallway.

"Thanks for that." He said quietly.

"No big deal." She replied.

He shrugged. "We've got to get to class, how are you getting home?"

"I'm taking the bus."

He frowned. "Then I'll... meet you at the end of your driveway an hour after school, is that alright? I'm sure you want the whole story."

"As long as you're willing to tell it."

He smiled tightly. "I'll see you later then." He said and walked away. Leaving Natalie just enough time to come out of her daze and sprint to her next class before the bell rang.

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Her mother wasn't home when she got there. Then again she didn't expect her to be. Natalie looked around for the Seven, but they were no where to be found.

She sat at her kitchen table, eating an apple, staring at the battery powered analog clock that was propped up on the kitchen counter for a solid half hour, her knee bouncing in anticipation.

When she thought it was a reasonable time, she grabbed a navy blue sweatshirt and headed out the door.

Natalie had to stop herself from running and she barely succeeded. She couldn't enjoy the beautiful afternoon. The only thing she could feel was the wind with a trace of winter on it's tips that went straight through her. Making her feel hollow.

And of course the fact that she was about to get answers to over a decades worth of questions made her overall rather antsy.

She reached the end of her driveway a good ten minutes early, but Nathaniel was early to. He had exchanged his backpack for a smaller drawstring bag and his sneakers for hiking boots but otherwise he looked the same as earlier, sloppy and sad.

"Hey." Natalie said as casually as she could muster.

"Hey." He replied, glancing down at her feet and her well worn running sneakers. "It's a bit of a hike, you okay to walk in those?"

She glanced down and grimaced, she wasn't prepared for a hike. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gone on a hike.

"I'll be fine." She sighed. "It's not like I've got anything more suitable."

He nodded and began walking down the road.

There wasn't much of a shoulder in these parts so she had to walk behind him, finding it difficult at first to keep pace, but eventually settling into his steps. This arrangement was less than ideal for talking, so Natalie's long lived frustration was left to stew for a little bit longer.

it wasn't long before they reached his driveway, less than ten minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. When they turned on to the dirt road, Natalie skip/ran to walk next to Nathaniel.

"Umm," She began with her usual eloquence. "Can we uh, talk now or should I shut up until we get to wherever we're going?"

His eyes darted around for a moment. "I guess I could start now. It's just- this morning I was excited not to be alone for about an hour... before I realized I was gonna have to cough up my seriously nutty family history. I'm not sure I can handle it."

"Well. I've been waiting for answers for 12 years." She shrugged. "I can wait a little longer."

He gave her a small smile. "Thanks, but it's okay, you should know, and heck, maybe you can help me figure out some of this nonsense."

She grinned. "Nonsense is my specialty."

"So, I guess I should start with the ghosts huh?"

Natalie cleared her throat. "What do you mean start with?"

"Well, if we're going to figure out how you can see them, you're going to need the whole picture, the ghosts are let's see... I guess the second to most recent development in the scheme of things. How would you prefer? If I started with the ghosts or went chronologically?"

"Uh... what if we touch on the ghost for two seconds and then you can go into you epic tale?"

He let out a short laugh with little humor. "That sounds fine, anything in particular you want to know?"

Natalie had to restrain herself to keep from bursting at the seams when he said that, but decided to keep it simple for now.

"Who are they? And how do you know them?" Where the questions she decided on.

"I can answer both of those questions with one answer." He told her. "They are my uncles."

Looks who's back from the dead and wrote a chapter on a whim... I never abandon stories but I do put them to the side until they strike my fancy again. Who knows, maybe someday I'll actually finish a book?

EG